


Tetris

by Keirs_Cool



Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Also Professor Hermann, Arcade!!!! Only bc i love tetris, Basically the same as canon but minus the deadly monster war, Fluff, Kaiju-Free AU, M/M, Professor Newt, Tendo Choi the super cool dude, its good read this, newts internal monologue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 16:55:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17047046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keirs_Cool/pseuds/Keirs_Cool
Summary: Newt has topped the leaderboard (the only thing hes ever topped lets be real) in the arcade down the street by a staggering amount of points, until some mysterious stranger somehow gets a staggering amount of points plus one.





	Tetris

Newton Geiszler spent hours at the arcade. On the days where he wasn't grading papers or taking part in some dumb interview, he'd stay up late playing Tetris on one of the old machines, bathed in the neon glow of the 80's-themed establishment. It took him back to a time that was never really his, yet somehow suited him quite nicely. As he loaded some silvery tokens into the machine, he put on what he called his 'game stance,' ready to beat his top score. Of course, he did, like always. The screen prompted him to enter his initials- his was always the top score, ranking at least 800,000 points above the rest. _Like_   _Always..._

Except this time it wasn't. He stood wide-eyed at the top score. It wasn't his. He took his glasses off then put them back on again. Still wasn't his. Maybe he accidentally typed 'h' instead of 'n', but he knew he didn't because he was always right because he was Newt Geiszler.

Newt barged his way up to the prize counter. "Uh, excuse me? Hello?"

A familiar face greeted him with a smile.

"Newt! What'sup my man?"

"Tendo? Tendo! What?- Hey!" Newt practically leaped over the counter at the sight of his friend. He'd known Tendo Choi since he'd moved to the U.S., almost twelve years ago. Since then, Tendo has held practically every job in the city. He had friends all over- from military guys (who Newt didn't approve of) to some really sketchy dudes who probably ran black-market things and hung out in bars or clubs (who Newt was super intimidated by). Tendo, like Newt, couldn't stand it if his world wasn't constantly moving.

"Whoa, Buddy! Didn't take you for the 'gamer' type, actually, take that back, I totally did."

"Hey, Tendo, I have a, uh, quick question..." Newt suddenly felt sweaty, realizing how dramatic his reaction to the game was.

"Fire away dude, or do you want to speak to the manager?"

"Ha-ha. Okay, uhhh... do you happen to know who beat me on Tetris?"

Tendo chuckled. "You stormed up here just to ask who bested your high score? Same ol' Newt, I guess."

"No, I'm serious! I was eight hundred THOUSAND points ahead. It's been a day. Maybe the machine's broken?"

"Newt, my man, just because you didn't win for once doesn't mean the machine's broken," Tendo ripped open a bag of sour candy from the display case. "Yeah, but I think I saw your guy. Real nerdy type, with the sweater vest and the glasses and all that. Shitty haircut. Got real into it, he was yellin' and everything. Thought he was like, eighty before he showed me his ID."

So he  _was_ a real person. Newton's brain lit up. It had been such a long time since he'd had  _real_ competition at, well, anything. "Tendo, sauce me some coins, dude."

Newt spent roughly forty-five minutes on his next round, yet only managed to beat "HG"s score by five points. He was about to try again until he felt a pat on his back.

"Newt-man, it's closing time."

Newt checked his watch. "How- holy shit, it's 3 A.M.! I gotta- oh shit!" He grabbed the jacket he had slung over the side of the machine and sprinted out the door.

 

The next few nights, regardless of his workload, Newt stopped at the arcade, determined to beat the high score. Sure, his students were complaining that he promised to grade their exams weeks ago, but right now, the little colorful shapes were more important. Every night, he'd leave the arcade way later (earlier) than he should, yet each afternoon the number one spot always read 'HG'. 

Newton, ever curious, had an idea. When the glowing screen asked for his initials, he instead entered "HEY". Hopefully, HG would get the hint.

The next afternoon, Newt shimmied in his hall, watching the clock. He had an after-school period with one of his students, which cut back his arcade time another hour.  His leg bounced anxiously, and as soon as the student left, he grabbed his coat and practically ran down the street. Sure enough, as soon as he reached the leaderboard, the leading score read "HI." Newt smirked, trying to think of something else to write. He settled on his old favorite- "ASL". He hoped that the other guy didn't assume he meant American Sign Language.

Over the next few weeks, they shared a three-letter correspondence daily.

"GOD."  
"SRS."

"GUY"  
"ME2"

"29"  
"28"

"HOT?"

"SH!"

Their scores were over 2,500,000 above anyone else.

At this point, it became a routine for Newt. Packing his papers into his bag, he all but ran into one of the- presumably new- teachers. "Hey, watch it!" He yelled back, barely holding on to his belongings. He arrived at the arcade, rushing to the token machine and hastily inserting a ten. He sprinted to the machine, ready to insert the tokens-

OUT OF ORDER. The white sheet of paper stood in his face, mocking his hubris. Tendo walked up behind him, almost apologetic.

"Wha- what happened?!"

"Funny story. Your star-crossed loverboy there, he found out the scoreboard has a point limit. Whacked the thing with his cane, then walked away like he wasn't the one who did it. Real bastard, you do love the bad boys, don't you, Newt."

The gears in Newt's head were turning at maximum speed. "Marker."

"Huh?"

"Got one? I need a marker."

Tendo handed over a pen from the prize display case, and Newt quickly scrawled his digits right in the corner of the sign. He signed it ' _-NG_ '.

It was in the middle of one of his famous, rambling, anxiety-and-manic-energy-fueled lectures in which his phone went off. Much to the confusion of his students (though hardly any more than they usually get), he leaped over his desk to find his cellphone.

_Arcade @ 7? -HG._

If his students weren't confused before, they sure were when their professor started giggling like a child in the middle of their lesson.

* * *

Newt showed up early. He was dressed up as nicely as acceptable for a trip to the arcade (just call it a date!). He leaned against the broken game, waiting for the clock to hit seven. He looked around, deciding what machine would be the best to kill time on. He got in one little booth thing, which was Jurassic Park themed- obviously the sexiest theme, duh. He inserted two coins into the slot, when a man entered the other side of the booth.

"Pardon, I wasn't aware this was a two-player activity." 

"Oh, uh, it's fine, you can- uh, here." Newt scooched out of the way, leaving a space for the other man.

The game loaded up, with a horribly 3D-animated and anatomically incorrect T-Rex roaring into the sky. The game turned out to be something of a shooting video game, which Newt morally disagreed to, flinching every time they killed a dinosaur (What did they do to us, man?)

The game quickly turned into a competition.

"Just shoot 'em, dude!"   
"I am waiting- to be precise-"

"Get the- THAT ONE!"

"It's on YOUR side, it's statistically easier-"

"-for you to shoot the dinosaurs, yeah!"

Newt found himself sweating by the time the game was over. He looked across to the other guy, who was red in the face and breathing heavily. Infuriated, Newt prayed that he got the leading score. He fist-pumped when his screen showed first place-

-until he saw that this random dude was tied for first.

The screen prompted for their initials. Newt typed in- NG. The scoreboard read first place, joined with an ampersand in the middle:

_HG & NG._

No way. No freakin' way. The other guy- (HG!!! It was him!!!) was- wait, shit, where did he go? Newt scrambled out of the booth just in time just to hear the sound of the door chimes, followed by a _slam!_ Shit!!!!! HG had obviously not seen the names, and thought Newt had stood him up. Way to be an asshole, Newt! Good Job!

It had been about a week since he last visited the arcade when Tendo messaged him. He had to slide the message open to see the attached photo.

_Pleasseeeedontbeanaccidentaldickpickpleeeeeaseeee..._

Oh. The picture was a newspaper article. Title- _MIT Gains Another Genius German Professor._ Below that, there was an image with the description- _Doctor Hermann Gottlieb, 29, will begin teaching an Advanced Mathematics Course at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology._  And- oh, Oof. The picture is him. HG. Hermann Gottlieb, Newt supposes. Well, Newt really doesn't have a choice, or at least that's what he reasons to himself as he runs up to the mathematics department. 

Out of breath, Newt crashes into Hermann's office (thank godddd he doesn't have a class right then!) and almost collapses on his desk.

"Excuse me? Who- are you a student? What-"

"Hermann! It's me, Newt!"

"What? I'm sorry, do I-"

"You.." (breathe, Newt!) "Last week! You, you topped me!"

Newt doesn't realize how the sentence came out until Hermann turns bright red.  
"You must've- I'm sure I would have-"

"Wha- No, The arcade score! Tetris! Jurassic Park!"

"Oh." At that moment Hermann's face could have won a costume contest for "Best Tomato Cosplay."

Newt held out his hand. "Dr. Newton Geiszler. You can call me Newt. (wink. you dont need to think the word wink every time you do thi-)"

"Gottlieb. Uhm, you may call me Hermann, if you would like." Hermann attempts to shake Newt's hand, but can't quite figure out the best angle to approach the gesture, so Newt takes it for him, giving a firm shake (youre gonna give him a firm shake in your apartment later-SHUT UP, ME).

"So, Hermann, uh, um, (focusfocusfocus)" Newt fixes his hair, though it is more of a nervous tic than any sort of improvement on his appearance, "Wanna grab lunch during break?"

Hermann raises his eyebrows, before looking away from his stack of paperwork.

"That sounds lovely, Newton."

 

 


End file.
